[NOTES: small changes are made to our protagonist in the previous 2 chapters, she should be less aggressive.]

I wake up, sitting up out of reflex. I am never this alert usually. That's curious. Rippegio and Sonetta did tell me that their bond with Rimetta had affected them like this, making them sleep and eat in sync with her. I'm not surprised about the same extending to me in hindsight. Can't help but imagine most non-psychics getting freaked out by such an unconscious bond, but... I like it, personally. Getting to truly feel things from his perspective, experiencing them with him, instead of just relying on my eyes and projection.

Feeling a weight on my lap, I tilt my head down to Fidel, who is fully awake. When our eyes meet he hops on my lap with even more energy that removes all the drowsiness within me. If I remember correctly, I don't have to worry about this effect lasting throughout his ralts-hood since I asked Ripeh the very same question about his daughter in the past and this should only last until they are two or three years old.

Bringing him up to me, We rub our cheeks together, and this time Fidel lets out a cute giggle, which makes me giggle a little as well. We're able to easily get out of bed and walk to the bathroom together. We have a brand new morning routine.

In front of the mirror, I hold Fidel in my left arm as I gently brush his teeth and gum in circles. But I also slowly question my action and ignore it like last time, since it comes from him. Putting his brush away, I fill a cup of water, just to realize a newborn can't rinse yet, and leave it for myself.

Needing to brush myself and my left arm tired from holding him, I place him on the floor next to me and start brushing my teeth. He pokes my right leg a little as I brush and he hugs it, which is pretty funny to me. But I know this is also clearly a sign of affection, so I crouch down and softly pat his head. He snuggled even more tightly as I did so.

Afterward, I dump yesterday's shirts into the washing machine and clean the basin that was used to store the said clothes. I then fill the basin up with warm water, and dip my right hand in the water to find the temperature suitable for him by adding hot or cold water. Putting away his pajamas, I lift him into the now newly-named tub, and upon sensing the water on his body, he very excitedly slaps on the water just to see a splash, making him even more excited to continue splashing. I also join in and splash along with him, even if it slows down the bath as I wash him.

After a long while of fun in the water, I lift him up, still wishing to continue. but he can't bathe forever. Within my arms, he let out a frustrated scream, tugging on me, unwilling to leave the tub.

"I know you want to continue, I also want to as well. We can still bathe again in the evening, alright." I soothe him as I dry him with a towel. After he calmed down, I wear him a fresh yellow T-shirt and a simple green shorts.

Bringing him to the kitchen, I pick up the toy car from the counter and show it to him. "This… is a car." I sit down and demonstrate how to play it for him. He looks at it with his mouth agape and reaches his arms out to grab the toy. I easily push away the urge to play with it myself and give it to him to play.

With Fidel distracted at playing with his first toy, I take the chance and very quickly bathe myself. Exiting the bathroom with a towel covering me, I peek open the bedroom door and check on Fidel to see him still playing with the toy car, fidgeting with the wheels. It is lovely to see him playing his own way.

Closing the door, I open the closet and choose a dress made entirely of hexagonal fabrics of different types with obtuse zigzag edges at the end of each opening, while the neck hole is a perfect hexagon. The colors start with warm orange on the top and gradually a colder blue at the bottom. This dress is designed with the following picture in mind, The Sea, as it was shined upon by the orangish evening sun of a nice and warm summer day letting its reflection seemingly melt on the water's surface with tiny glitters all around. A scenery from one of our 153 dates. The exact amounts of precious dates I was able to have with Desmond

Oh, that one date which made me design that dress, was truly beautiful. For someone else, it may have been just a regular Saturday in June, when we both decided to rent a boat. For me, it was one of the most romantic things that ever happened. The sun was slowly setting. While we held onto each other for warmth from the very cold sea wind because we don't want to bring any jacket that would discourage our closeness. We sometime talk, sometimes simply hearing the waves splashing the boat's hull, and we would even follow fish with our eyes along in the waters to count them despite the sheer stupidity of it.

Then there was this one moment, the final greeting of the sun, nearly disappearing into the sea, Desmond's auburn hair glowing in a deep orange all the while revealing the hidden golden fleck in his green eyes, where all of his love and passion pours out for me. Unforgetably handsome.

Reemerging from my happy memories, I apply the facial cream and sunscreen since I will be out under the sun for a while and I get sunburned easily!

Opening the bedroom door, I walk to the fridge to take some of the berries to slice them. Fidel drops his toy and hugs my leg as soon as he notices me, so I walk to the kitchen with him holding on. Thankfully, he was very light and we have great fun doing this, albeit only very shortly.

Arriving there, Fidel got off my leg after I stopped walking and I pick him onto the kitchen counter next to me. He curiously looks at me, as wash my hands, take out the cutting board, and start cutting the berries away. He keeps approaching the cutting board as I do so, and each time I physically stop him from getting near with my shoulder. Until only seeds are left, I put the knife away and promptly throw them away into the nearly full bin. ' I better clear that as soon as possible.' I remind myself.

Grabbing some containers, I store the cut berries in them and leave some to make the pulp for Fidel. I crush the berries until they leak out of my hands, While Fidel looks at them with great fascination as I do, and tries to touch them. Instead, I dip a little bit of it in his mouth and his eyes brighten up with joy upon tasting it. He stands up and approaches my hand and tries to lick the pulp, while I have to resist licking it myself. But…I ended up licking it, the pulp tasted like how I have eaten the normal berries before.

Seeing his very visible eyes on the verge of tears, I immediately give him another lick of it from my other hand. Thankfully, He brightens up and very quickly licks it until there isn't any on my hand anymore. Putting my hand away, I say "Wait for a moment, alright? I know you're hungry." We rub our cheeks together to hopefully cheer him up a little before I finish making his meal.

Once it is completed, I carry him to the other counter, sit on the chair with him on my lap and feed him the pulp from a spoon. He easily gulps them down, leaving nothing coming out of his mouth, unlike how human babies would, which is great since there is no mess. Once he had eaten a fourth of the pulp from the container, he stops opening his mouth for scoops, thus I close the container and keep it in the fridge, while also taking out the frozen lasagna from yesterday and reheating it.

Placing him on the floor, I give him back the toy car he dropped and sit down to watch him play while waiting for my food. For this time, He steps on the toy car on one leg and slowly spins a circle, by slowly adjusting his standing leg. I found this pretty adorable, thus I take a picture of it with my phone and put it into the newly made album called, Fidel. I hope to fill it with many adorable pictures soon.

As I watch him, he suddenly lost his balance and I immediately got down to catch him. Being held by me, he excitedly exclaims, "Ralts!" and hugs me. I feel tears running down my face once again.

Hearing a ding from the oven, I pat his head before getting up to take out the lasagna, fill my water bottle, and make his formula milk, while our utensils and Fidel's container are kept in the handbag. Looking at the counter, I decided to also bring the rubber ball, since we could be at the settlement for a while.

At the door with Fidel beside me, I wear my shoes and remember that Fidel has nothing suitable for his large stubby feet. ' Looks like, I will need to get custom-made shoes for him, at least socks won't be a problem though.'

Carrying Fidel outside of the apartment and then going back in to grab the garbage bag, I lock the door and look out of the concrete balcony with Fidel. What are once very normal skyscrapers look amazing. The reflective shine from the windows. The sheer size and numbers of it are only achievable from time and our technology. ' We really did it, huh.' Shrugging that off, we got into the elevator, and after we have left, I am just as surprised at how it can transport us. ' Things sure are amazing from the perspective of a newborn.'

After throwing away the garbage bag into the dumpster, I walk down the pavement to where my shop is. Everyone is staring at me like usual, but there's also a lot of "Aww" coming from them, because of the little cutie in my arms. Fidel likes the reaction made by these people since he can definitely feel their adoration of him from them.

"Hey, did you cut its hair and wear the shirts on it like that?" a gal asks enthusiastically.

"Fidel here's a boy and yes, I did, so I can always see his cute little eyes. I even made his clothes."

"Woah, you sure are spoiling him. May I pat him?"

"No, you may not." I hold Fidel away and hug him tighter away from her direction.

"Oh come on, just a little pat."

"No." I simply state and continue walking.

This kind of interaction with people generally continues to repeat even at the park. People give compliments about how adorable Fidel is with his shirts. How large his eyes are, or how much he looks like my baby since I hold him like how a mother would to their child, which is the only comment that got me to hide my face. Although admittedly… I like to be called like that.

Passing by a playground where several children and young pokemons are, I can feel Fidel tugging against me as he tried to get off to the playground, which I gladly carry him to. But I hesitate with placing him on the rubber mat of the playground ground since it would dirty his feet. Fidel still tugs on me to get down, so I swallow that deep down and place him there anyway since at least he can experience stepping on different surfaces. He doesn't mind stepping on the rubbery surface though, so that's good.

The little ones around us paid us no mind, as they are busy playing by themselves or with their friends, making it easier for me to be close to my child. And Fidel himself tries to use the stair after seeing a child climb up on them, but he can't get up at all since the steps are as tall as his entire leg. Seeing this as an issue, I just lift him to the top of the nearby slide and place him there. He looks down at the short slide, not knowing what it is about, and looks at me, so I sit him down and lightly push him down the slide.

Watching him sliding to the end, He chirps in excitement at how fun it is and hops up and down to do it again. This tempted me to also use the same slide, but I am too big for that, instead, I'll just experience the fun from Fidel instead. With our bond, I am able to continuously pick him up and him sliding down without tiring out mentally as most parents would, but unfortunately, my body does not agree with this, and very quickly, I tire out and so does Fidel.

Exhausted, we sit at a bench nearby where the other parents watching their kids are. He curiously looks at me as I take out his bottled milk and before he knows it I held it into his mouth to feed him. As he is drinking it, I am tempted to also drink it, but I made it just for him and not me, plus I don't need it. Looking around, I see another mother sitting next to me, weirded out by what she is seeing.

"Why are you feeding your ralts with a bottle?" she asks while pointing a finger at me.

"Because he needs some nutrients that berries don't have."

"But, why?"

"Can you please be more specific?" I politely ask.

"You don't necessarily have to feed it-"

"Him." I interrupt

"Fine, you don't necessarily have to feed him with that, you know?"

"I know, I just want him to grow up big and strong like any responsible mom would."

"Mom?! You consider yourself a parent to a pokémon?!"

Looking down at Fidel, "...Yes, I am proud to be one. And Fidel here is definitely better than your child." I say cheerfully and pat his head.

The women pause for a moment. "Are you joking?" she asks a bit uncomfortably.

"No," I respond and she immediately gets away from me. ' I did not regret saying that.' After Fidel finished his milk, We got up and to the forest.

In the woods, there sounds again thankfully, the buzzing bugs, trampling grass, and so on. Each of them now being a surprise with Fidel here. Thus making the walk through the woods is wonderous and dare I say it… magical.

"Ralts!" Fidel cutely squeaks, reaching his hand out to a little red flower on the ground. I softly place him on the ground in response. But once his feet touch the grass, he forgot about the flower and touch it instead. ' It's adorable how easily distracted he is.'

Unexpectedly, he managed to pluck out several blades of grass and present it to me.

Receiving his gift I say, "Thank you, Fidel," and pat his head to his delight. Remembering the flower, I hold his hand and lead him to the flower, which he quickly toddles towards it and plucks out of the earth before presenting it to me once again.

"Thank you, let me show you how a flower smells." I pick up the flower from his hand and raise it to his nose. He froze after smelling the flower but immediately hops up and down around me. For whatever he is experiencing, I find myself spinning around and dancing along with him like how it was in my ballerina years.

Within one of the spins of my casual dance, I gently swoop Fidel back into my arms, before immediately stopping. We both laugh at how fun this was and move on.

Unfortunately, all the fun has to end when we reach the ruined clearing. My tears uncontrollably leak out once again as I stare at the lone tree, but I quickly notice my sleeves getting wet and then a bawling coming from my child.

"Hey, it's alright I am here, I'm sorry." I try to soothe him with my shaking voice to no avail. ' He is crying because I am crying and he has no reason to cry at all.' I still continue to soothe him and myself by going away from the awful site.

I collapse next to a tree, hugging my crying child tightly and absolutely hating myself. ' I made him cry' I think to myself, ' I am a terrible mom. How could I just do this!?' I proceed to hit my head on the trunk several times trying to remove the undesired crying and to punish myself.

Finally, we both stop and I wipe off the tears from my precious child. He still jitters a bit from the aftermath, and it just breaks my heart. "I am sorry. I am so sorry. Please, forgive me." I apologized profusely as we rub our cheeks together. Even though he knows nothing of what I said, he still hugs me tightly, and that's enough forgiveness for me. ' Alright, I need to better control myself! No more outbursts like that!'

Kissing him on the forehead, I walk back to the lone tree, breathing heavily to try to avoid feeling that again and place my right hand on it. Then, I turn my head to the left. Which is where the settlement is, not too close, but not too far. I walk in that direction.

While walking, I slowly remember the shape of the path as got closer and closer to my destination. Ripeh used to drag me through this place to meet the rest of the settlement when he was just a ralts. Oh, how they welcome me with open arms with a large number of voices coming into my head that causes me to nearly faint back then. It was pretty intense for my young mind.

Gradually getting lost in the memories, We used to play simple games together with them only using their psychic power and nothing else. I remember I used to fly around in their telekinesis before, it was absolutely amazing, a dream come true for some of us. But I don't think I have the courage to do it now anymore. ' That's what growing up does to you.'

I also remember the time when Ripeh used to play harmless pranks on others through the use of illusions, and I tell his parents about it. It wasn't out of maliciousness or anything, just simply doing what I am taught to do. But after I told them how he did it, they simply congratulated him on how well he does it, because they do it as well. The entire family shattered my expectation of adults being mature people. At least they don't do it on me since I don't react well to it, not even today.

I also took part in ballerina classes after the settlement had shown me their dances to be able to keep up with them. The amount of time spent dancing with them has allowed me to win many ballerina competitions and in return, I introduced them to the dancing style of humanity as well. ' I hope they still pass down that knowledge.'

Whenever Ripeh and I got tired, we eat berries together and listen to one of the gardevoirs sang, whose name I have sadly forgotten. But I remember her voice to be very melodic, similar to how others of her species speak. However, unlike the way they say the name of their species when they are talking, she sings it with pronunciations that reflect her emotions, similar to how they dance - as she explained to me before.

Bumping to a tree, I am out of the nostalgia trip, I look down to check on Fidel and make sure he is there. Then, I look around to see… a trainer… Just seeing that thing is enough for me to grit my teeth and shake, while clenching my fist, ' Those things again, here to capture more of them I see. This time I am not going sit down and do nothing, I will not allo-' As Immediate as my reaction to that thing, Fidel made a lot of rash movements and screams out loud, almost making him fall off me. ' No, stop you can't let yourself boil over like that, Fidel shouldn't feel this. He is too pure for this. But… that thing… could still hold his family, his birth parent, my best and first friend.'

Calming my still screaming child, the trainer calls out, "Hey who's there? You are not going away from this!."

As I was about to run off, a mightyena suddenly appear in front of me, growling. No doubt this beast is the trainer's. It looks so fierce that I can hardly move my leg and my breathing is heavy. Checking on my child, he held onto me tightly and hid him from that monster.

"I will protect you. I will not let that thing touch you, I swear with my life," I shakily whisper to my son.

"Hey…, you alright?" the trainer calls out from behind.

"NO! GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!"

"Okay…" Looking up, the mightyena is gone now, but a much more pleasant umbreon is in its place. We huff out all the pressure from before upon seeing the cuter being.

"When two trainers meet, a battle must always occur.'

"Actually, I am not a trainer."

"Don't bluff me. Only trainers or people with pokémon can enter the woods. And aren't you holding a pokémon?"

"Then why do trainers have to do this? The last one I met didn't care if I hold one or not!"

"Really? That's strange. Anyways, you're stuck here."

"Still, I am not going to fight."

"Umbreon, if she runs away without a battle, you need to attack her." the trainer tells the umbreon before coming back to me. "Now, you have to fight."

Since the situation has come to this, I decided to take my chances. ' at least I somewhat recognize the woods here.' I quickly turn around and run away with the umbreon on my tail.

"WAIT, DON'T-" I somewhat heard that bastard shout out loud to the umbreon as I ran. But unfortunately, we were already deep in the woods.

In only a few seconds, the umbreon jumped on my back, making me fall, but I was quick enough to land on my side protecting my child. I quickly let Fidel go from my arms and punched it off of me, before quickly getting up to see it didn't flinch. ' I can't let this thing kill me. Fidel needs me and if it has come to this so be it.'

With everyone on their feet, I charge right to the umbreon as it dashes to me and we smash into each other, knocking me off my feet, with my chest burning in pain.

Quickly getting up, a shadow ball strikes me before I can even dodge out of the way. Weirdly, the attack felt like nothing, ' I can't let such oddity distract me from protecting him.' Opening my eyes, it lounges onto me, biting my right arm, causing me to scream from pain.

Reflexively, I swung my right arm to a nearby tree with unexpected strength. The umbreon lost its grip upon hitting the tree. I stand back up, run over and kick it away. It used the momentum from the kick to get back to its feet and charge up an attack with its mouth glowing in dark energy.

Knowing this is not the same attack, I spin out of the way, but unfortunately, it impacted my left leg, sending immense pain through it, making it hard to move. Lying on the ground, I pick up a rock off the ground and run to the umbreon, with my broken leg. It starts moving around to make itself hard to hit, but instead, I grab onto its tail and bash the rock on the head. The rock immediately shatters on impact, and the umbreon dizzily charges at me, which I easily dodge out of the way for it to hit a tree.

Seeing that the rock didn't even pierce through its tough skin, I sank my left arm into the dress, gripping the sleeves with my right and quickly wrapping it around its neck from behind, tightening it.

After a minute or so of this terribly brutal way to end anyone, It stops moving. I put my finger under its snout and thankfully it's still breathing. With the fight finally over, I cried, perfectly knowing what Fidel had seen. Turning back to him with my aching body, he is sitting down quietly crying to himself with his hand over his eyes, it hurts to see him like this.

Leaving the umbreon, I hold him up and pat his head, while he hugs me tightly and cries.

As we cried together, some trampling can be heard from behind obviously that thing has found us here. "Don't talk to me, I don't want your help. Grab your umbreon and go, or else the next thing ending in the same fate will be you," I limp away back to the main path.

Finding a nice tree, I lay down by the tree with Fidel comfortably lying on me, all calmed down. Shortly after we rested, I look up, the sun only moved a little, thus plenty of daytime left. I get up with a painful stretch and to the settlement. Although there isn't much of a path left to reach there, it seems very far away with my injuries, but I will be there. Rippegio's parents need to know what happened and I need guidance.

I know I have arrived when I see a dense gate of berry bushes, which has always worked as a boundary of their home and a food source. This long row of bushes is meant to be a hassle to go through to prevent any trainer from entering while remaining inconspicuous. Taking a deep breath and looking into Fidel's eyes, I trudge through the bushes and into the large clearing.

In there, it is larger than I remember it to be, as there are so many of them in the entire field, mostly fully formed families, happily living their simple life... But looking further, the settlement also now Includes a good number of other species that weren't included in the past. There are also plenty of the little ones playing together and with their psychic abilities if old enough. Some of the adults can also be seen teaching their songs and dances to the kirlias as well, including the ones I have shown them long ago. It looks amazing how joyful everyone is and I want to rush in to join them like in old times. ' Wait, is this how I feel or are these Fidel's feelings? I contemplate that. 'I can't differentiate our feelings but Fidel seems pretty happy to be here.'

As I stand there, I see everyone that is close enough looking at me, worried, while the newcomers are confused. Then, I am approached by a pair gardevoir and they use heal pulse on me before everyone else follows suit. I can feel the stinging all over my body disappear, while only now noticing the bite wound on my right arm closes up, leaving a tear on my sleeve. ' Need to patch that up back home.'

" What happened?" the female half of the pair asks.

"I got into a fight with an umbreon."

" But how did you survive that? And why are you here with one of our young?" asks her mate . Knowing his confusion, she then tells him about me, by telepathy. This is identified when both of them stare at each other in silence.

They look back at me, " What happened before you came here? I felt grief from you!" she asks.

"I would like to talk to Rippegio's parents about this. Can you please lead me to the matriarch?"

" The previous matriarch and her mate passed away, I am the matriarch now," she explains.

Hearing this, I quickly bow down and formally respond. "Please, let me reintroduce myself, I am Anselma Pallibrica, weaver of Orsay city. I am here to deliver a piece of terrible news to the parents of Rippegio Battuta and to seek guidance from your people to raise the child in my arms that I have bonded with him as he is now my responsibility. "

" WHAT! YOU BONDED WITH HIM?! WHY?!"

"His original parents have been captured by one of those… disgusting trainers when he wasn't hatched yet to see his birth parent. I was, fortunately, there to take him in and took the responsibility."

" Oh my, I am so sorry for your loss. I remember you must be very close to him. But don't worry, I will help you find them."

I bow down, "Thank you, matriarch…?"

" Arianna, remember?"

"Sorry, I have forgotten…"I lower my head to the ground.

She tilts my head back up, " It's fine, it's just a name."

"If you say so, Can you please lead me to them?"

" I will, don't worry. And please, I don't want to be that kind of very formal matriarch. I just want you to be casual around me like everyone else." she respond while her mate looks very surprised by what I just did.

"Yes, Arianna,"

"Just Aria is fine."

"Alright."

While we walk through the settlement, I also caught the attention of many around here, especially the ones from the other species. Since they don't take it kindly with a human. I hid behind the couple the entire time, looking away from everything. Some of the gardevoirs who knew me are forced to help stop them from attacking me. This doesn't have to happen if my species could just treat them right and see them as equals, but instead, humans capture them and thus separate them from their friends and families.

" Are you alright? I sense shame and guilt from you," asks Rowan, whose name was told to me by Aria. His name is deeper rooted in human origin because he was once an assistant to a field researcher, surprisingly.

"No, I am not, I do not want to cause such a problem here. I wish my kind would have treated you all better, instead of a thing for 'battles' as they called it. I hate what they have done to you all. And I really want to do something about it to change it."

Aria pats my head, " That's a lot, but you have already proven to many of us here from the past that you're different from the rest of them and you have see us in the way many of your kind never saw it. Shouldn't you be happy with that?"

" Yeah, you're amazing, Ansel. You seem to know more about the culture here than I do and you even influence it from the dances." Rowan follows up.

"No, I shouldn't, They still continue to hurt you all, while I am powerless to stop it."

" It happens, sure. But we can't do anything about it. The best we can do is to accept it and do our best to avoid it." said Aria.

"I can't, I can't at all. They are terrible. Why did you choose to not do anything about it?!"

"We didn't choose to, we really can't. And we shouldn't hurt someone who didn't do anything to hurt us, especially, since they don't even know our alikeness."

"I don't get it!"

"You will. Besides, all of that anger is going to be detrimental to the child you have bonded with." reminded Rowan.

I look down, Fidel is fine, but not in a good mood, and when I tilt his head to look at me, he holds a frown, the kind you see after someone has an argument. "What have I done!" I pull my hair as I say. They immediately put their fingers and both sides of my temple, which stops me.

" Calm down, you're not going to solve anything like that," says Rowan.

"How can I even do that?!"

" By stopping yourself."

"How?"

Aria then took over, " Alright that was a bit vague, what he meant is to not react immediately. By not letting yourself act out on them, and from doing so you'll be more aware of what's causing you to feel that way. But that does not mean suppressing your feeling, you still feel them. The difference is that it's contained rather than unleashed."

"Oh…, I don't think I can do that."

"You will, I can feel it."

Seeing this has already gone on longer than I liked, I answer, "Alright…" to it and then quickly take out a notepad to write it down.

" What's that your holding?" Aria asks.

"Oh, it's a notepad, I am writing down the things you just said."

" Writing? What's that?"

"It's-."

" I'll take it from here," Rowan interrupts before staring at his mate in telepathy.

After a while of silently walking, we found Rippegio's parents in the middle of the field. His mother, Novia looks relatively normal, without any notable features. But his father, Lesteh is a giant, easily 190cm and above. It doesn't feel any different from how I met him in the past.

" Hello, Ansel, it has been a long time. And who's the little guy in your arms," says Novia as she pats Fidel's head.

" How is my favorite human doing?" says Lesteh, before he picks me up with Fidel for a hug , "Just like the old times."

While I am squished by his hug I reply, "Y-yes, it is, can you please put me down, I need to tell you two something…" He then put me down on the ground.

" What is it?" said two worried voices in my head.

"Your son has…" I take a deep breath, "been captured by those trainers. And I am holding his child." I quickly say.

Looking at them, they are horrified, and I instantly regret saying that. They both hug each other for comfort and let their tears out. While I continuously breathe in and out in an attempt not to cry.

" Ansel, you need to let it out. It's alright if the child and you have bonded to cry as well. It's a normal part of everyone's life. And like all things in life, it isn't forever." said Aria who's still here.

"No, I don't want to! Even if it's temporary!"

" You need to. Otherwise, You will lose your sensitivity to the emotion of your child, as close your heart from your emotions."

"What?! I don't want that to happen!"

" Then let it out, It's as simple as that."

Seeing no reason to talk back, I let myself cry and hug the couple to grieve together. They didn't hesitate to include me and Fidel in.

As we cried together, their bodies radiated a lot of familiar warmth the same ones from my mom in the past. They had always been something like her whenever I spent my time here as a child. They were my secondary adoptive family here, always there to help soothe me and teach me their culture, with Lesteh being the dad that I have wanted since forever.

After, we departed from each other. Tears were very much present in both of their eyes although we had stopped crying. At least everyone had calmed down. I also help wipe Fidel's eyes of tears. Checking behind me, Aria and Rowan have already left, probably on matriarch duty.

" Thank you, for honestly telling us what happened, it was brave of you to do that," said Novia.

"Mhm," looking at Fidel again, "Can you two also tell me about how to raise him? Because I have… bonded with him. In hindsight, I shouldn't have done it and just brought him here in the first place." I tilt my head down, "Please don't be angry at me."

" We aren't angry at you, we already sense the connection between you two when we embraced each other," said Lesteh. " But with how this has happened, I think you deserve to know how to do so."

"Thank you so much," I then take out the notepad again,

" Alright, let's sit down together first," we all sit down in a circle with Fidel is within my leg, he continues, " I hope you are ready for what awaits you. First off, as you already know, they need to learn to control their emotions. How do they learn to do that? By identifying them, which is where you'll come in."

"But how can I do that, as a human? Since I couldn't really send emotions like you can."

" For you, it'll be…" He stares out into space as he thinks. " Actually, you don't need to have our abilities for him to learn. You just need to help identify his emotions and contain them for him since any child can't help to just be one with their emotions. We also both know that we can cause devastating destruction if we can't control them."

Writing everything down, "So how do I help him identify?"

" For you, it'll be by putting it into words for him, once you feel and identify them. Then, you have to find ways for him to properly express them. Don't forget to also find the source of the feeling as well."

"But what about containing? I heard that from Aria as well. It's about not overreacting but still feeling them, right? My problem is that I don't think I can stop myself, it just does."

He pats my head before continuing, "It's alright, I am happy that you're willing to learn. Containing can only work if you identify what you're feeling, and how those feelings are making you act, and like with your child you need to identify the source. You really need to do this at your own pace as well, so don't worry if you've made a mistake or are slow with it, you will pick up the speed one day."

"Alright, that's almost all the same thing Aria said. Anything, else?"

A feminine voice then rings out, " From my observation of how you didn't join us to grieve together, you seem to have forgotten the importance of allowing all feelings. "

"Yes, I still really don't want Fidel to feel the really bad ones from me.

" I understand being the source of why your child is feeling anything negative is the most difficult thing to take in. But you have to remind yourself it will pass like all things in life. Otherwise, something like this can happen: you are angry at yourself because you were angry or sad that you were sad. This creates a terrible cycle that will never stop until you accept it."

"This… somehow makes a lot of sense." I quickly look back on the notepad and finish up everything.

" I think that's what we can think of for today. If you still have doubts or questions, visit us anytime."

"I will, thank you all so much." I hug them again with them returning it. " So, are you going to leave now?" asks Lesteh.

"Oh no, I am not. I haven't been here for a long time. I think I am going to stay here until evening."

" Sure, just be careful alright."

"I will," I then stood up with Fidel in my arms once again. Walking over the field the second time, I notice some more things I haven't seen when I first enter. There are a decent number of holes throughout the field, more than there used to be, probably more burrows dug out by the lopunnies, and just so happens the burrow next to me has one of them peeking their head out, but goes back in once they think I notice them. Despite knowing they don't like me, I want to go inside and know what's in there. Looking at Fidel, he is staring intently at the hole in the ground. " Should I? I might get hurt, but I need to rebuild my reputation with the new guys."

Hesitating for a little bit, I decided to peek my head into the burrow, with Fidel standing by the entrance. Inside, There are two adults talking to each other, while their three children run around in their small home. They stop what they are doing when they see me, and the couple hurries their children behind them, staring at me.

"Please, I am not like the rest of my species. Can please give me a chance?"

"Punny!" one of them angrily responded.

"Alright, I understand. I will leave your family alone." Lifting my head out of the burrow, "Sorry, Fidel, they don't want to meet us, but we can still meet the others." I then lift him back up again, he still looks at the burrow, but I have to respect their boundaries.

Walking around, I do manage to find someone else. Or rather a group of them. Which is a group of six older ralts playing together. They all look at me fearfully when they saw me approaching them. But once they see another of their own in my arms, they calm down, but not exactly back to the cheerful way they play. Fidel is hopping in my arms as he sees someone looking just like him, making it a bit difficult to hold on to him. So, I place him down, he quickly toddles towards them, and they happily accept him as their playmate

With Fidel next to his older peers, his size difference is very noticeable, being the shortest in that group, while the tallest one is taller than him by approximately 30 cm I think, while also having thinner legs. Fidel is also the easiest to distinguish among them from wearing my clothes and his very visible pair of cherry-red eyes. Seeing they are comfortable with Fidel around, I step in and bring out the ball, which captured the attention of all the children in front of me. I then demonstrate it by kicking it to them.

With the ball near them, the largest ralts kick it back to me and I kick it to one of his friends. Gradually, I see more of them kicking the ball to each other, and their happy laughs return. Fidel tried to kick the ball but he couldn't catch up as quickly. Seeing yet another precious moment, I took a picture of it.

Sitting away from them, l already miss having Fidel in my arms and I still want to be with him, to at least make up for what happened in the forest. But… he has to learn to interact with his peers without my interference to grow. It's inevitable that a child is going to grow up and away from their parents…

Suddenly, Fidel stopschasing the ball and quickly toddles to me and hug me. I tightly hug back in response. I never knew he loved me that much. Releasing my arms, I look at him, and there is his amazing little smile and eyes full of life. "We are going to look around this place, alright?" I pat his head and get up. I will let them have fun with the ball for the time being.

Arriving at another point of the settlement, I saw many of the people sitting down together intently looking in a single direction. I approach them and up ahead I see some fighting types having one on ones with each other. Their fights are rather fast with how they swing their arms and legs methodically to hit their opponent. Along with how quickly they evade or parry their attack. It is the most hypnotizing thing I have ever seen, my eyes could not leave how they move their body.

"Raa!" Fidel wowed.

With both of us interested, I ask the gardevoir next to me, "What are you all looking at."

She jumped a bit before turning around and her face quickly turned from shocked to excited.

" Hello, Ansel! It's been such a long time since I have seen you."

"Yes, it has been."

" And, why do you have one of our young?"

"It's Rippegio's... He has been captured by those disgusting trainers along with his family."

" Oh no, I am so sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, today has been rough with the others."

" I am sure you will be able to gain their trust."

"Thanks for the encouragement. May I sit here?"

" Sure."

While I was feeding Fidel, one of the fights ended with a sawk raising his arms to admit defeat to a gallade. Both of the fighters then bow down in respect. Suddenly, the sawk notices me and he looks at me cracking his knuckle. " Oh no…" Fidel hugs me tightly as I get up to run away. Fortunately, just as he was going to run toward me, he is stopped midair with the familiar pink aura of telekinesis. Searching to find my savior, it is the same gallade as I see his eyes glow from using his power. Suspended in the air, the sawk turns to argue with him.

Not wanting to see this unfold, I pack up and leave elsewhere.

My random wandering ends up with me arriving nearby a family with a kirlia by a tree. The kirlia is a beginner weaver as he is weaving an incomplete green and white clothing of their species. I could not tell whether it was their tutu or the dress. Given how mangled it looked from being in a weird position from afar, his parents are still supportive of his efforts though.

The clothing of the gardevoir species has always been the most interesting thing for me. They evolve with them and can make more of it with delicate green plant fibers and white silk from bugs. But the thing is, the process heavily involves the use of focused fae energy to produce a fabric smoother than silk and softer than cotton, that magically does not cause bedsores, and in a single blink, it blends in with the skin as if it has always been there. Unfortunately, I am not a gardevoir and I will never be able to create such amazing clothes. It would have made perfect wedding apparel for Desmond and me.

With my passion sparked, I approached him. He gets up and walks away upon noticing me. " Oh right, he doesn't know me and thus hates me…"

As I was about to leave, a female voice called out, " Hey, come back here.". I turn around to see the responding gardevoir looking at me with a smile. " I am sorry about my son's behavior toward you. He will soon be joining you for some lesson on weaving since neither I nor my mate knows about this."

"Thank you so much, It's not nice to see him struggle like that."

" It sure is."

The kirlia is then dragged to me by his father. He still pouts about being with me, but he is at least obliged to be taught by me. I sit down with Fidel on my lap, while he sits beside me. "What's your name?"

" Tiawi…"

"Can you please show me what you have made, Tiawi?"

Raising my hand, I expect him to put it on my hand, but he throws the clothing at my face. Fidel laughs at the occurrence, making me chuckle under the fabric. Taking it off my face, "Can you please not do that, otherwise I will prolong this." I sternly say, to which he groans.

Spreading out the incomplete wearable, it is a tutu with all the folds slightly in unequal length and width, understandable since they don't have tools for measurement. While the stocking part is a pair of straight lines, instead of resembling the shape of their leg. Overall, the fundamental and sometimes rough workmanship of the dress were the tell-tale signs of a beginner's early attempt at weaving.

"You're done with the folds right?"

" Yes," he says annoyed.

"Alright, I can see you're clearly struggling with the stocking part, and I know how to weave it."

" Great, just great, that you know how to weave it. I'm thoroughly impressed by your knowledge, " he says and immediately gets smacked on his horn by his dad. He winces painfully. " Fine, sorry!"

"And I accept the apology. To make any clothing you need to measure the fabric first," I then retrieve a sewing tape from my sewing kit and unroll it.

" What is this?"

"It is a sewing tape, it measures your body to make clothes."

" And what are those symbols on it?"

"Numbers, that's how we keep track of length, height and therefore the surface area of a fabric for example, but we also use them to describe volume, time, temperat-"

" Stop! That's enough. 'Numbers' must be important right?"

"Yes they are, and that's how you can improve your clothes." I then felt the tape being pulled. Looking at my lap, Fidel is grabbing onto it, inspecting the strange little symbols.

"Wait for a moment will you?" I tell Tiawi before tending to my child.

"Hey, I need those back." But he still holds on to it and shows it to me proudly. "You find this interesting don't you." stopping to think for a moment, I take out ten empty textile bobbins of differing colors and hold them in front of his eyes. He immediately drops the tape and grabs the bobbins.

"Alright, where was I?"

" You were talking about the 'sewing tape'."

"Thanks, I am going to measure your leg now."

Looking at the long rubbery thing, He turns his head to his parents, definitely complaining about not wanting to do this.

His dad asks " Is there any other way that doesn't require the use of this… long thing?"

"No, It's the most efficient and precise way you can make clothing." The dad looks back at his son and he groans but still stands up for me.

" Just make this quick."

"I will, I promise."I then very quickly measure his thighs, under the knee, above the ankle, and the always tip-toeing feet. Before finally measuring the entire length of his leg.

Putting the tape back into the kit, I write down everything when he asks, " What's the weird stick and the white thing you're holding?"

"The stick is called a mechanical pencil, it can leave black markings from the tip," I flip the tip for him to see and show the things I have written in the notebook. "And the white thing is called a notebook, it contains a stack of papers to write or draw stuff on," I held out a page to show what paper is.

" What's the symbol beside the 'number'?"

"That's words, English specifically, and how each of them is arranged can mean different things."

" Woah, so humans made up 'words'."

"Yes, there's a lot of variation, maybe too many. But back on track, do you have any spare fabrics to make a new one."

" Here." he hands up a roll of the green sheet.

"Thank you." I unroll it on the grass and prepare the ruler before I start drawing and explaining the measurements used in weaving and techniques to draw out an outline.

Once I have nothing to say anymore and just draw out three more of the same patterns. I decide to ask " So, who taught you to weave?"

" Silvia, her weaving has always been the best here. The dresses she has woven before are either perfect replicas of the ones we evolve with or a creative variation of it."

"Wait, that name sounds familiar, may I meet her later?"

"She's… taking care of her mate, Rui who has been very sick for several winters now."

"Oh no, do you know why? I might be able to bring medicine for him."

"No… But I think you can meet her with your offer since you humans seem to have solutions to the impossible."

"Alright, thanks for the compliment."

Taking out a scissor, he asks again, " Is this used to cut the fabric?"

"Yes, it's called a scissor."

" Like it's named after the metal bug scizor?"

"I think so, not sure exactly, but I am certain many words are named after many pokémons. Anyways, Let's get this done, you wanted this to end as soon as possible right?" I then simply cut out the fabric for him.

Once done, "I believe you know what to do now, but I have something to make this easier." keeping the mechanical pencil and scissor in the pencil box, I take out a needle.

" How can this pointy thing help with this?"

"A string can be tied at the hole here" I move my finger to show the hole. "And the pointy tip can go through the tiny gaps of any fabric, bringing the string along and stitching everything together much more efficiently, so you don't have to take as much effort when you use your telekinesis to stitch."

" Wow, may I have it?"

"Yes you may, I planned to give this to you anyway. But I need to show you how it's used. Do you still have any of the fibers.?"

"Here." he hands me a roll of it on a stick.

"Thanks," I say while grabbing the end of the fiber and dipping a little bit in my mouth out of habit before threading it. "I did this out of habit, alright. Because the threads I usually use need to be wet before I can thread them."

" That's weird."

"I know," I answered and thread a second needle for him.

" How many of these 'needles' do you have?"

I look into the sewing kit before saying, "Sixty-eight, not including the ones we are holding."

" Why would you have this many?"

"...I have forgotten why."

He pauses in confusion before looking back at the pieces.

"Just watch how I do it."

" Alright."

A while later, we finished the stocking. "Congratulations, here's the sewing tape. Remember to start from the zero symbol here whenever you're going to make a measurement," I point to the zero.

"But, what about the rest of the symbols?"

"I'll properly teach you how it works the next time 'cause I'm getting sleepy," I stretch both of my hands and yawn. Turning to look at Fidel, he has already dropped the bobbins, and his head is mostly tilting to the side. Needing to take a nap, I quickly collect all ten bobbins and leave the kirlia with a bye before walking to find a comfortable tree nearby.

Finally finding one, I lay by the tree, making sure Fidel is comfortably lying on me, I wrap my arm around him and eventually, we fell asleep.

—--

"AAAHHHHHH!" someone screamed, waking both of us up with a jump. Fidel immediately cries from the shock of it and we tightly huddle together as I tearfully soothe him. Once he has calmed down, I get up and call out "What happened?!"

" One of the fighters got seriously injured!" a male voice came to my head.

Hearing the news, I immediately follow some of them to the source. What I saw at the site is enough for me to cover Fidel's eyes. Everyone is surrounding a machoke with a very large and deep cut on his shoulder bleeding down his right arm, covering them. Everyone is attempting to close the wound through heal pulse but it is too large for it to work. He shakes in fear as he hold his arm to close the wound with and frantically looks away. A gallade is also attempting to apply pecha berry puree to disinfect the wound, while everyone else was trying their best to calm him.

Knowing I have the right tools for this, I rush over there, just to get blocked by two gardevoirs. "Please, I have something that can quickly close the wound." I pleaded but, they silently stare at each other.

" I will relay what we are talking to you, so please don't interrupt." a male voice says in my head, so I stay quiet.

" You can't just let the human help, what if it's trying to gain our trust to lead the rest of its kind here!" said a female voice.

" She will not, she has been a regular visitor since I've seen her as a child and has more chance to reveal the location than you can think."

"Then what if all that is just a facade and she has been waiting all along."

"That's far too long, besides you're just finding excuses to demonize her."

"Even if all that's not true, What can she do? no one ever has the power to close wounds that large, besides I wouldn't want her filthy human tools to touch one of us."

" But maybe she can help, humans can often do the impossible like magic."

"I'VE HEARD ENOUGH!" The couple turns to look at me with the one on my side shocked by my response, before promptly getting slapped in the face by his mate. "Please… trust me on this, everyone here wants the machoke to live. So, it's just as important to close the wound so that he doesn't lose too much blood. Therefore I want to stitch it closed. There is no magic to this, never has been. I can't guarantee he will survive. But I can guarantee he is more likely to survive with it. Also, it's not filthy, it won't infect his wound."

After hearing my response, she begrudgingly let me through. I left Fidel in the care of the male gardevoir before leaving. Rushing over to the machoke, he is confused with my appearance and tries to get up away from me but not before having his leg held to the ground from telekinesis. In a blink of an eye, he quickly raises his fist from his good arm to punch me.

Opening my eyes, the fist is only mere millimeters away from me, fortunately, surrounded by the pink glow of telekinesis.

Quickly moving out of the way, I took out the needle and thread from my sewing kit and start stitching the wound. While stitching, his entire form almost fell on me, fortunately still being held back by telekinesis. Looking up, he's already passed out from blood loss, but I don't let that distract me.

Through the struggle, I have successfully closed the wound. I pack my stuff up, walk to the gardevoir and hold my child back, I advise "If he wakes up, remember to remind him to remove the thread once the wound is healed enough."

" I will," he responds and I give him a light nod before moving on.

While walking back to the tree, The late afternoon wind blew past us, lifting our hair. It's pretty cool and amazing seeing the grass around us blown in a single direction in unison, so I quickly turn to the direction of the wind to feel it with Fidel, who stays in my arms stunned by the amazing experience. Enjoying the wind, the group of ralts from earlier approaches me. Fidel tugs on me upon seeing his friends, so I place him on the ground to be with them, although they don't seem to be eager since all of them have their heads pointing to the ground and holding their arms close to them.

"What's wrong?" I gently ask.

" We accidentally broke the gift you gave us." a little boy's voice enters my head before he reveals the deflated ball, which I pick up.

"It's alright, things like this happen. I am not mad you all."

" Thank you, miss human. It was very fun while it lasted. Can you please bring more for us?"

"My name is Ansel and maybe, but I think I have something new for you guys."

"What is it." multiple voices of several children enter my head .

"Bring me some of the largest leaves you can find and you'll know soon enough because it's a surprise!"

Hearing the word 'surprise', all of them immediately run off to find the largest leaves they can. While they are collecting a material I need, I have Fidel follow me to a low-hanging tree and collect several thin branches.

Sitting down by the said tree, I start clearing the leaves and sorting out the branches to find suitable sticks, but Fidel holds onto the branch, staring at it. Since he wants the stick, I snap off the one I deemed unsuitable for the thing I making and give it to him.

Holding the very curved stick, he starts swinging it around and starts laughing when the stick wiggles on its own after he stopped. I laugh a little before going back to my task.

After finding eighteen suitable sticks, I start forming six cross formations for the sticks and start tying them up with my threads. At this moment, they came back with the leaves and fortunately, they were large enough. Fidel toddles towards them and shows them the stick, which they complement him for, despite knowing deep down is not impressive. They start conversing with each other though, leaving me alone to stitch out the kites with the leaves they provided.

My assumption was wrong when all the children ends up gathering around me to look at what I am stitching, which isn't a bad or annoying thing. In fact, I like the company.

" What are you making?" came a voice of a little girl.

"Just for a bit longer, alright."

Tying up the thread of the leaf kite to a stick, I present it to them. "This… is a kite," Everyone looks at it, confused and some of them look down in disappointment. Knowing they will be surprised anyway, I hold the kite high up and wait for the wind. The moment I felt the air blow through my face, I run against the wind and release the kite, which is when I stop running. Looking to the sky, the kite flies high and maintains its form. Nice.

It is only now that all of the children are surprised and gather around me, " Can I have it, please?" " Give me! Give me!" " Let me have it first." …

"Calm down, calm down, please. I could not decide who to give when everyone is asking at the same time." I said which got all of them to stop talking.

After a short moment, one of them picks up the courage and says " May I have it, please…"

"Yes, you may." and I hand the stick to her. "Don't worry everyone, I am making more you just need to be patient, alright," I said before walking back to make more, while everyone follow suit.

While I was making the fourth kite, someone shouts "Machoke!" so I turn around, and not too surprising is the machoke I saved with the stitches holding on pretty well on his shoulder. "Make sure to not move your arm too much, otherwise you might not recover properly."

He happily nodded and gestured for me to come closer. Once I walked next to him, he brought his good arm and tightly hugged me. Surprisingly, he didn't break my spine. In fact, he is rather gentle with the hug. "You are welcome, remember to take off the thread once it is fully healed. And can you please put me down?"

He happily complies and says something to one of the ralts. " He would like to know if you want anything back?"

"No, all I wanted was to help, but I am pretty thankful for the gesture." I face the machoke as I speak. He looked down after I told him, but he is seems determined to do something for me.

Looking over the trees, the sky is now mostly orange from how long I was making the kites. " I better leave to buy shoes for Fidel." I tell the children in front of me "Help me, keep the incomplete kites, alright. I will finish them the next time I visit. And also, remember to share." then I hold Fidel up to me.

" We will, goodbye!"

"Bye-bye~." Looking to the machoke, "And bye-bye to you too." he happily nods.

On my way out, some of the gardevoirs who knew me call out goodbye to me as I walk out of the settlement and return to the city.

Back on the familiar pavement, many people are going home now, But that still didn't stop them from fawning over Fidel. One of them even asks for a selfie with him, which I decline. After a while of passing by nearly closing stores, I reached the shoe shop. The front door of this place looks just like mine but the inside shows shoes meant for humans before the ones for pokemons. While the more expensive ones comparatively look much more mundane than mine. ' What's the point of buying these if it's not doing something special.'

Entering inside, I found my attention mostly on the supposedly unfascinating dull-colored shoes around me. I even picked one up to show it to Fidel. "This… is a shoe and I am getting you a pair."

"Ahem, Are you going to buy anything," I turn my head and there stands a strict-looking old lady that reminds me of one of the old teachers that I am always afraid of.

"Oh sorry. Yes, I would like a pair of sandals for Fidel here."

"Okay, just come over here." she points to the ground to the right of her.

Bringing Fidel to the spot, she takes out her sewing tape and lifts Fidel's foot. It was all going smoothly until the tape fully wrapped above it, and he started struggling to take the tape off. Immediately, I pull on her hand to release the tape just to get pushed aside. "Stop interrupting me and tell your pet to stay still!"

"FIDEL IS NOT A PET!"

"And I don't care what it is to you, just make it stop."

"Him, he is a boy!"

"..."

"Well, make him stop then." the old lady says.

"...Give me the sewing tape," I tell her and she hands it to me. I crouch down, and lightly wrapped it around where she was measuring. This time Fidel didn't find it uncomfortable that I did it.

"33cm."

"In inches?"

"But why? The imperial system is the worst way t-."

"I don't care. If you want the shoe, tell me in inches."

"Alright…" I then flip the tape around and measure him again, even though I really don't want this thing on him again. "13 inches."

"That's it," she then takes the tape off my hand and then walks to her partner who's tidying the workbench. He reads the note, looks at me, and quickly gets to work. Meanwhile, I go away to a well-cushioned stool.

It's pretty boring sitting down doing nothing, so to make things fun for the both of us I decided on an activity and turn Fidel to face me. Fidel looks up at me with his always precious pair of large eyes. I raise both of his mitten-like hands and clap them with mine. He giggles very happily upon hearing a clap and I find myself giggling with him.

While clapping with him, A grumble let out from my stomach, making both of us laugh that I forgot about feeding myself again, which prompted me to take out both of our meals.

Opening Fidel's container, I feed him first until he stops opening his mouth like usual, before unpacking my lasagna. While eating, Fidel grabs the tray, trying to have a bite of the content inside.

"Alright, just a little bit." I clean his spoon with tissue before scooping a small slice of lasagna from another corner of the tray and feeding him.

Upon tasting it, he hops up and down very energetically and calls out "Ralts! Ralts! Ralts!" as he tugs on my hand. My appetite increases as he does so.

"That's enough already. I am scared you might get a tummy ache, but I can still cut up some of the watmel and custap for you at home."

Although telling him, his tugging eventually turns into screaming. Making my body shake from his very visible anger before I softly hugged him and patted his head for him to calm down.

While focusing all my attention on my child, something abruptly plops beside me. I turn my head away to the ground to see a completed pair of circular sandals with straps and the old lady walking away.

From my past experience of not encouraging the wraith of people like her, I immediately grab the shoes and leave for home.

—--

At the front door, I place the sandals on the ground before lifting Fidel's leg into them. I also make sure to keep the little tails from his leg within the shoes. After I carefully fasten the straps, I let go of my hands and walked a short distance away, making sure to maintain eye contact with him.

Down the halls, He quickly toddles towards me with the creaking sandals. The straps did not loosen and he doesn't try to take them off, which means he finds his new shoes comfortable. He pretty quickly reaches right in front of my legs, so I hold him up and ask while rubbing our cheeks together, "Do you like your new shoes?"

He didn't respond but still rubs with me.

' I'll take that as a yes.'

Taking off our shoes and into the bathroom, I take off his shirts into the washing machine. I then set up the tub and exclaim "It's bath time!" and place the very excited Fidel in the tub to bathe him. I put especially more effort into washing his feet.

Seeing several larger bubbles on his body, I decide to blow a bubble from my hand. The transparent sphere floats from my hand over to Fidel and he raises both of his hands to try to touch it. I really want to touch it the more I look at it, but it's for Fidel. Some swinging of arms later, he pops it and jumps back a little along with me.

Once Fidel's done, I have him wear red-and-yellow pajamas with star patterns. The pajamas have two sides separating from the buttons as the pattern is inverse in color on the other side making it the most interesting clothing for Fidel to date. After I give back his toy car, I take care of the laundry before I take a bath. ' I still need to stitch that dress tomorrow.'

Leaving the bedroom in my nightgown, Fidel Follows me to the kitchen where I take out the watmel and custap from the fridge before going to the cutting board, but this time I didn't bring Fidel up next to me since what happened earlier in the day. So, I just have him right by my leg, playing with his toy.

After I made the sweet pulp, I tasted a little bit of it and it is sweeter than any candy, tasting like watermelon custard. I then store most of the pulp away and leave half a muffin's volume of it for Fidel in a bowl. I hold Fidel up in my left arm and the other for his dessert. Instead of bringing him to the other counter, I bring him to the couch and turn on the television before setting it on a children's channel. The television does still have an internet function though, but the contents on the Internet for Fidel's age is… Let's just say it is a nightmarish fever dream, that'll make anyone hurl.

As the actually good cartoon unfolds in front of him, I feed him the first scoop of the sweet pulp and he immediately forgets about the television and gets on my lap, wanting more of the pulp, which I gladly give. After he is fully satisfied with his dessert, we continue watching the cartoon until it finally ends.

Nearing bedtime, I quickly finish the chores and grab a story book The Very Hungry Caterpie off the counter and go to bed with Fidel. I make sure he is sitting comfortably on my lap before I open the book and read aloud, "In the light of the moon a little egg lay on the grass, surrounded by trees." The first page shows a simple illustration of the moon with a face shining on the egg. Fidel put his hand on the moon, which is funny.

Flipping to the next page, "One Sunday morning the warm sun came out and-pop!-out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpie…

The reading is very slow, but unexpectedly enjoyable even for me. I also like that the book has incorporated all the essential things for a child to learn very much inside the story that I noticed which are the days of the week, numbers, and types of foods which are all illustrated.

Closing the book, I still want it to continue, but every story must come to an end. Fidel tugs on my hand like it was back at the shoe shop, still wanting more of it.

"I know you want to read more about what happens to the butterfree. We can still read a new book tomorrow."I say while soothing him.

Suddenly, I remember the most important note I have written and get it out of my handbag. I immediately pin it on the wall where I can see them every day when I wake up. Need to contain and identify our feelings and the source of them, by putting them into words. Need to allow the negative feelings, because they don't last forever, otherwise, I can't feel Fidel.

After brushing our teeth, I sing the lullaby and we fall asleep, prepared for tomorrow.